Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Really. How do you get to be responsible for debts you didn't incur?

Sounds like she is a money grubbing person. Depending on the state where she died determine who inherits as she died without a will. In PA you and her mother are heirs at law. That is you and your ex are entitled split the estate assuming it's not insolvent. What the law is where she died I have no idea. Based on her actions they probably are a lot like Pa's.

Good luck!

{John}

A probate attorney who practices in the county/state where the estate will be pending (its where your daughter lived at the time of her death) needs to review the document but generally just agreeing to the appointment of a personal representative does not equate with a renunciation of any rights of inheritance. To renounce an inheritance, you have to file a disclaimer that has to be in the proper format (it has to comply with federal and state law).

There is no way for you to direct that proceeds go to your younger daughter. You either accept the inheritance and then make a gift to your younger daughter or you renounce your right to inherit and your ex-wife gets it all.

You have another issue - the ex-wife may be able to argue that you somehow forfeited any right of inheritance by abandoning the children.

And you are not quite correct about there being no estate. People while alive may have nothing but can end up being dead millionaires. If your daughter was a passenger in a car being driven by someone else, your daughter would have a claim against the driver and any other driver (if applicable) for wrongful death. Since your daughter died (my condolences for your loss), then the only way any type of claim can be brought would be by the personal representative of the estate. The at fault driver's parents may have owned the car and had liability insurance. You do not indicate how much the insurance was, but since we have a young person who died, we are looking at a nice chunk of change, even if there are only the policy limits. And we know nothing about the at-fault driver's situation and whether there are assets or not there.

I know you don't want to be put to the expense, but I strongly recommend that you pay a probate attorney to review this document and advise you as to whether there can be any type of argument by the ex-wife that you "abandoned" your daughter. Perhaps the lawyer also could agree, for a fee, to monitor the progress of the estate and wrongful death cases. Given what you say about your ex-wife, she sounds like quite a piece of work and if nothing else you can tell your ex-wife to talk only to your attorney and let all correspondence be through the attorney. Its more expensive that way, but your ex-wife is a piece of work and I would not trust her.